Wide receiver Chris Godwin sat at the lunch table after Tuesday’s Under Armour All-America Game practice with headphones in listening to music. There were sunny skies and a light breeze as the nation’s top players sat arranged by schools, conversing and fielding questions from media members.

Thompkins, a four-star wide receiver who is set to early enroll will make a final decision in the coming days. On Tuesday he talked with reporters while stirring a cup of coffee and trying to express just how up in the air he was with where he’d be starting his college career on Jan. 10. He will enroll somewhere early and hoped it’d be at Penn State but there were still so many uncertainties because of the coaching situation.

As of Tuesday afternoon O’Brien was still the head coach and Stan Hixon the wide receivers coach. The equation would only become more complicated for the commits later that evening when O’Brien officially left to accept a job with the Houston Texans. Hixon will join him there.

Maybe more fidgety than usual, Thompkins filled his lunch plate with macaroni and cheese and barbeque but dropped his plastic fork on the floor before ever taking a bite. He said he was trying to stay calm and focused on the Under Armour All-America Game and come Thursday night after the event he’d give his college decision more thought if need be.

He wasn’t the only one.

To Thompkins’ left was O’Connor, the quarterback who was so optimistic that O’Brien would still be there to coach him that the four-star prospect didn’t want to put much thought into the hypothetical questions regarding his future. Quiet and focused, O’Connor was waiting to learn who his Penn State roommate would be. He wondered just how difficult strength and conditioning coach Craig Fitzgerald’s winter workouts would be. O’Connor was told to be prepared to take a redshirt barring an injury to standout Christian Hackenberg.

The quarterback spoke about preparing to make the upcoming eight-hour drive from Ottawa to State College with his parents so they could help him move into his dorm room. He’s a serious competitor and after leaving Canada to head to Tennessee to work with a personal trainer as an 11th grader he was already used to life at a boarding school and being on his own. He spent his senior year at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. where former Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke was his coach and mentor.

“I don’t want to think about it as much because I just want to have fun while I’m here,” O’Connor told PennLive Tuesday afternoon. “When I’m thinking about it I start getting stressed out and a million things start going through my head.”

Those who spent time with O’Connor since O’Brien’s announced departure described the player as “shocked.”

By the wee hours of Friday morning, days after players learned O’Brien was indeed headed to the Houston Texans, O’Connor's mentor, Vic Tedondo, told NJ.com that Michael will continue waiting for a head coach to be named and because of that he will not enroll at Penn State in January. Michigan State, Rutgers and UCLA are all interested in O’Connor, according to Tedondo.

In mid December O’Connor told Michigan State thanks but no thanks when they offered him a scholarship after losing quarterback commit Chris Durkin to Virginia Tech.

“He’s not going to wow you with his arm strength but he throws the ball with great anticipation and he’s able to do that because he can process information,” Weinke said of O’Connor after a practice earlier this week. “That’s where the great players separate themselves.”

O’Connor was drawn to Penn State by O’Brien, the coach who assured all the commits he’d be there when they arrived on campus and at least for the duration of Hackenberg’s collegiate career. It was easy for the commits to want to trust O’Brien because after all he’s been through at Penn State – dealing with unprecedented NCAA sanctions, scholarship reductions and bowl bans – he’s found ways to motivate his players and led them to a back-to-back winning seasons.

It all sounded promising to a group of teenage commits, four of whom spent nearly a week together at the Under Armour All-America Game practicing and soaking in an Orlando Magic game and a trip to Disney’s Hollywood studios. Little did they know that the Rock’ n’ Roller Coaster ride they took Monday evening wouldn’t compare to the emotional ride they’ve been on since learning about O’Brien’s departure late Tuesday night.

“Depending on who they bring in we’ll have to see what happens,” Holley, the four-star defensive tackle said during that lunch-time session where he chatted with reporters, telling them he most certainly could eat and talk at the same time. At 303 pounds there was little doubting what the Brooklyn standout could do.

Strangely enough, that luncheon was among the last calm moments for the four cornerstones of the highly-regarded recruiting class.

While the players wait for a permanent head coach to be named there are other schools vying for their services. More programs will vow to give them playing time sooner rather than later, perhaps providing them with more empty promises in hopes of luring away some of Penn State’s top prizes.

It happens at every school whenever there is a coaching change, but it’s a lesson in the business of college football that the four standouts and the rest of their classmates are learning the hard way.

“I wouldn’t look at it as lying,” Holley said. “It’s a business and you have to do what you have to do. You have to be prepared for it at all times.”